2012 Saints Texans Preseason Preview with Saints Tailgate

Going to the Texans Saints game in New Orleans? Please note that the unofficial meetup spot Saturday pregame is at Turtle Bay Club, 615 Bourbon St starting at 2:00 PM and then walking to the stadium.

I’m not going to be there, but lots of fun people will be, so do have a great time repping our team in our absence. (Note there are two Turtle Bay locations in the French Quarter. This is the Bourbon Street one, though the other location more often shows up in Google searches).

I suggest that if you drink alcohol, you very much do so in moderation. NOLA is a place where it is easy to let the alcohol be the boss of you. It’s not good to be a drunk anywhere, but can be especially dangerous when you are a fan at an away city. /common sense //no, I’m not your mom ///midway through this post here’s more tips for being a good away fan as I know that it will be a first for some of you.

If you are going, let me know in the comments.

What I’m Watching for in the 3rd Preseason Game.

1. Texans Offensive Line Play. The Superdome is one of the loudest stadiums in the NFL. Which can make offensive line play a challenge. The Saints defense is in transition and will be missing key players so the test is an imperfect one. Coach Gary Kubiak has stated that he is going to play both Rashad Butler and Derek Newton at right tackle for this game and their competition will be close. This is what Sports Illustrated’s Peter King wrote from his visit to camp recently:

“Rashad Butler and Derek Newton, battling for the right tackle job vacated when Eric Winston was whacked in a cap purge, could both play some early in the year, Kubiak told me. But look for Butler to start.”

“As you watch them play, they show off the strengths that they have. Butler is a little more athletic. Newton is a big, physical guy. They show up in different ways.”

Maybe Butler to start games when pass and run are more mixed, and Newton to close out games when the Texans get into more ground and pound mode? It’s as good a theory as any. Whatever they do, it can’t get Matt Schaub killed, which should go without saying, but is always in the back of your mind with offensive line experimentation.

2. Kicking Competition. Kubiak says that this competition is right down the middle. Some have speculated that Kubiak is leaning more towards Randy Bullock. Certainly, pluses for Bullock are that he is relatively cheap, can be developed for the future, is a local guy, they used a draft pick for him. Negatives for Bullock is that he is unproven, and if you think you have a playoff team, do you really want to depend on a rookie kicker on the road against New England or Chicago or all sorts of places he has never been?

All kickers miss kicks. If Graham misses them, he is a kicker who missed a kick. If Bullock misses them, he is that Aggie rookie kicker. Each kicker has had some ups and down days throughout the off-season camps, and anyone who says that one guy looked much better than the other guy, wasn’t watching.

Graham hasn’t been known for having a strong leg, though he’s made some long kicks in camp and in the preseason games. In the real season, I’m not sure how many long field goals Kubiak is going to want anyway. He likely wants a guy who is automatic from short range though.

If the Texans cut Bullock, I’m not sure he gets picked up with another team. I think Graham would get picked up if a kicker is struggling because he is a known commodity.

3. Defense. Defensive coordinator Wade Phillips has said that the Texans are going to be playing this game with their base defense. Hard to evaluate the defense given base defense + all the players who will likely be absent for this game. Most notably JJ Watt, Shaun Cody and perhaps Brian Cushing.

Even when all those guys were playing in camp, Kubiak repeatedly expressed concern with his run defense. And now, with the thinness on the defensive line, with defensive ends filling in at defensive tackle, and few guys available at inside linebacker, you wonder how the defense may hold up against the Brees show. Not sure that it should be panic in the streets if they look poorly. But run defense against good offenses I believe was a legitimate concern even with last year’s solid defense. It was slightly hidden because the Texans offense tended to have fast starts and got to early leads.

And even though DeMeco Ryans had some physical limitations last year, I won’t be sold on the replacements of Bradie James, Tim Dobbins or whoever they stick in there to help out at inside linebacker until I see them perform in actual games more. Brian Cushing hasn’t missed regular games due to injury. Yet. I don’t want him to ever miss a game.

Anything in particular you will be watching? Other than injuries. I get a little unnerved when I see people’s 53 man roster predictions with two games to go because injuries can bleep up everything.

Question 1: What are 3 of the Saints strengths? What do Saints fans feel good about?

“One of the key Saints strengths has always been coming back stronger in the second half of play. Often the first quarter gets the opposing team over-confident by our seeming lack of organization. In the second quarter we often have to pull back even and sometimes don’t quite make it. In the third quarter is when we get rolling downhill, in the fourth quarter we often walk all over a team, and the fat lady is tuning up her voice to sing.

Drew Brees is our primary strength, and in a preseason game with the Texans he’ll have to act like it’s already the third quarter from the “git-go”. If he can get his mind into “being down in the third quarter” when he first hits the field the Texans may be in trouble. Quite frankly we don’t know how well our backups will fair in the second half against the Texans backups, so Drew will be trying to leave the field with a lead. If he does, watch out Texans. Drew is scary when he’s under pressure.

The Saints defense has always been the “Wild Card”. On paper and in the stats they often look as interesting as a bowl of cold oatmeal. What the stats overlook is the Saints wacky ability to “focus their turnovers”. By that I mean that our turnover ratio may not even be very good, but the Saints often make that single turnover at the worst possible time for the other team. One of those is a game changer, two can be Armageddon.

The Saints fans draw their confidence from the knowledge that the first three items above are true, and absolute faith in their quarterback Drew Brees. If there’s a fourth item, it’s that the Saints usually only lose the unimportant games and we win the big ones. We “play up” to the level of the teams we’re playing against. In the case of the Texans that will mean playing our best.”

Question 2: What are 3 three things that concern Saints fans? What scares Saints fans?

“If we asked 10 Saints fans what concerns them all 10 would be concerned first about Brees being hurt and having to leave a game. Second would be that and missing the next two games as well. Having gone there, it’s only a concern because our backup QB Chase Daniels has proven himself capable of finishing a game for Drew without going backwards via dumb QB mistakes. Against many of the teams we play Chase would still probably be able to split a pair of wins, so a minor injury for Drew is not that big a deal.

With regards to the Texans game the fans are afraid of our depth at linebacker; we just had our fourth linebacker injured in Wednesday’s practice and he won’t make the Texans game, and possibly the next. The linebacker we just got from the Seattle Seahawks Barrett Ruud is a battle hardened veteran, but wasn’t necessarily meant to even hit the field. We signed Ruud for insurance purposes only. Ruud hasn’t even practiced under our new defensive coordinator Spags, but with bad luck he may end up playing against the Texans Saturday. Concerns? We got one. We’re concerned that the Texans may airmail more packages into our secondary and the end zone than UPS.

Another big concern in the Texans game is our tackling. Our second preseason game was really our third, and revealed an inconsistency we didn’t like. The players haven’t got the new defensive package straight yet, and the new offseason training camp guidelines didn’t help any: they didn’t get to spend enough in time tackling practice. Often even the veterans looked bad against the Jaguars; it wasn’t just the rookies. Players were out of position; they didn’t use good tackling form. If we allow the Texans to get a steady ground game going it will set up the pass. If that happens we’re back to square 2: the lack of starters at the linebacker position. Saturday may be a long night for the Saints defense.

What scares the Saints fans most is two-fold. The thought of losing Drew Brees for the season or for his career is real scary. I wouldn’t call it “Colts scary”, but scary. We may have a “one pony show” too, but I can’t see us heading for the dumpster like the Colts after they lost Peyton. This season is different though, it’s of the utmost importance to Saints fans that in spite of the loss of so much leadership throughout portions of the season that the team still get an even break to make a play at defending the Superdome for a second Super Bowl title. The Saints fans dream of the look on Roger Goodell’s face if he has to hand the Lombardi Trophy to Drew Brees in the Superdome at the end of the season.”

Question 3: Some Saints players for Texans fan to watch that they may not know about but could have game impacts either good or bad.

“A) On offense watch out for Courtney Roby (15). He is a veteran wide receiver who has always stayed on special teams. In fact, he is the special teams captain. He has made full use of his opportunity this year. Also watch for Ben Grubbs (66) at left guard. He is replacing Carl Nicks. Late in the game, you will want to notice Travaris Cadet (39). Cadet is pressing the veterans for a spot at running back and on special teams pretty hard.

B) On defense, watch for Junior Gallette (93) at defensive end. He probably won’t start but, he’ll be on the field on a lot of third downs. He may not get a sack, but he will get consistent pressure. Watch all the linebackers. Right now the Saints are more than decimated. They are on their fourth string middle linebacker. The starting weak side linebacker is out, as well. Lastly, the Saints have switched the defense and you may see four defensive ends playing on third and long downs.

Honorable mention: Absent players. Curtis Lofton and Darren Sproles are sitting this one out to get better rested for Week 1, although both could play if needed. Sproles and Lofton are polar opposites at both ends of an offensive/defensive lightning rod. They’re both game changers.”

End of This Long Blog Post.

Thanks to Magyver for his thoughts. Now it is time to add yours. You know where they go.

From the wayback machine, here’s Saints fans at the 2007 Texans game. I asked the question, who is the drunkest person at Reliant Stadium. I got an answer: